Ah, Prof. Edde Iji! A titan of thought, a trailblazer in the theatre, a thespian of theory, and a troubadour of truth! Today, on the occasion of your 77th birthday, we dare not dabble in dull platitudes, for your life defies mediocrity. No, today we dip our quills in golden ink and scrawl praises in the sky!
From the footlights of Theatre Arts to the far-flung corners of academia, you have danced deftly on the stage of scholarship, drummed up distinction with every dissertation, dazzled us with your depth and disarming humility. Moreover, your pen, powerful and precise, has lay bare the beauty of rigorous research. Local or international, every journal you graced bore the imprint of intellectual intensity and incandescent insight.
A remarkable man, you mentored minds, moulded men, midwifed manifestos, and made professors from pebbles. You saw seeds in students that others overlooked and watered them with wisdom, willpower, and well-placed words. You were never a mere lecturer, you were a lighthouse in the fog, a firm friend in the frenzy, a formidable figure with a fatherly fondness for the future of your flock.
With nostalgia, I speak not only from observation but from heartfelt experience. You lifted me, launched me, and lit lanterns along my labyrinthine path. You recommended me when recognition was rare, rewarded me when results seemed remote, and reminded me gently but firmly, that excellence is not an event, but a habit.
Full of good service, even outside the lecture hall, you were never out of service. With flair and focus, you navigated the knotty nuances of governance through but not limited to the following positions: Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture & Natural Resources (1987–1988), where you planted policies and harvested hope. As honourable Commissioner for Lands, Surveys & Town Planning (1988–1989), you mapped out miracles and built better tomorrows. When you served as the honourable Commissioner for Information & Culture (1989–1990) though briefly as others, your eloquence electrified, and your cultural compass never lost true north. As a member of the Cross River State Executive Council, you brought both vision and verve to the table.
Back to the University of Calabar, where you spent the bulk of your life teaching, supervising, mentoring, publishing as well exercising administrative duties notably, as executive director of UNICAL Consultancy Services (1986–2000), you transformed theories into tangible results.
Lest I forget, as a Board Member of the Nigeria Customs Service (1985–2008), you bridged bureaucracies with brilliance. Most notably, in all of the positions you held, you did not enrich yourself.
And throughout it all, your loyalty to the University of Calabar burned like an eternal flame, unshaken, unspoiled, and unrelenting. And now, in your seventies, while many slow to a shuffle, you stride with the strength of a stallion! Where others tire, you triumph. Where others wither, you wield wisdom. Your footsteps still echo in classrooms and boardrooms, in councils and in corridors of power. Admirably, you remain a scholar, a sage and a stagecraft supremo.
So today, as candles flicker and friends gather, we hoist high our hearts in honour of you, our professor, pathfinder and patriarch of Pedagogy!
May your days ahead be as golden as your legacy. May your laughter linger longer than your labour and may the curtain never fall on your saga too soon.
With style and sincerity, I wish you a happy birthday, Prof. Edde Iji! The stage is still yours. Take another bow. We are still applauding.
Anthony Ekpo Bassey, PhD is a former student and a protégé of Prof. Edde Iji
